Just hours after Hurricane Wilma hit this base, the 482nd Fighter Wing had the base airfield open and ready to help with relief efforts.

The wing is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Florida Army National Guard and local officials here to send relief supplies to south Florida residents.
The base lost a lot of trees and has scattered debris. But the wing is operational, even without electricity throughout most of the base, said Col. Randy Falcon, the wing commander.

“The base took a hard hit from Wilma, but we’re fully operational,” the colonel said. “The 482nd Fighter Wing is cleaning up and sending relief to the surrounding communities.”
“We received moderate wind damage and isolated water damage, with four facilities having major roof damage and seven facilities suffering minor roof damage,” the colonel said.

So far, helicopters are flying missions in and out of Homestead to survey the damages to the north and south of the base. And they have also flown medical supplies to areas in the Florida Keys, the colonel said.

The base was ready for Wilma. According to FEMA officials, tractor trailers began pre-positioning supplies at the base Oct. 20, in preparation for Wilma. The supplies include ice, water, military meals and tarps. More than 200 tractor trailers were ready to go Oct. 23, just hours before Wilma made landfall on the southwestern coast of Florida.

Less than 24 hours after the hurricane passed, relief trucks drove to areas across south Florida. They went to points of distribution, where the Army National Guard passed it out to people in need.

According to FEMA, 104 trucks of supplies left Oct. 25, and deliveries continue today.

Many of the distribution points are co-located with American Red Cross centers that provide hot meals to citizens, many of whom have not seen a hot meal in 48 hours or more.

FEMA has used Homestead as a relief staging area consistently for the past two years. Each time a hurricane threatens south Florida, FEMA pre-positions supplies here.

Homestead is a great location for FEMA’s relief operations “because we have an airfield, as well as the facilities and support infrastructure necessary to run a successful operation,” Colonel Falcon said.

“From Homestead, we can transport supplies in multiple directions. And if land transportation is unavailable we can support heavy airlift helicopters and fixed wing aircraft,” he said. 

Relief agencies will use the airfield to receive relief supplies by air, if necessary. But for now, most supplies are being shipped by tractor trailers -- which require a lot of fuel.

In fact, it has taken 14,000 gallons of diesel and more than 3,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline -- over a five-day period -- to keep the operation going, said Don McNeal, the wing’s fuels superintendent.

“We’re slowly getting to a level that’s manageable, where we can handle the demand,” Mr. McNeal said.

Besides servicing more than 200 tractor trailers day and night, fuels specialists have refueled over 30 aircraft -- mainly helicopters -- and serviced 25 generators here twice a day.

The coordination between all the agencies here has been heroic, Colonel Falcon said. From the Miami-Dade County mayor’s office, to the state and federal agencies, including the military units, “this has been a team effort.”